Gun nut tasered after assaulting cops and heckling dad of girl shot to death (video)

If you want to understand why American has a violence problem, you need go no further than this video of Daniel Musso, a proud defender of the Second Amendment bullying and heckling the father of a girl shot to death by her husband, then assaulting the police and being tasered in response.

This took place yesterday in Concorde, New Hampshire.

It may come as little surprise that shortly after, police went to question the man, he “struggled” with the police for a minute and a half, according to the local news, and the police ended up having to taser the man to subdue him. I’m not usually a fan of tasering, but in this case I’m happy to make an exception.

Yesterday afternoon [June 18, 2013] a group of hecklers and bullies try to shout down the father of a gun violence victim. John Cantin’s daughter Melissa was shot and killed by her estranged husband in Manchester, NH in 2009. John was also shot, but he survived. John refused to be silenced. Instead, he bravely continued to share his daughter’s story and call for common-sense legislation to reduce gun violence.

John AravosisFollow me on Twitter: @aravosis | @americablog | @americabloggay | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn. John Aravosis is the editor of AMERICAblog, which he founded in 2004. He has a joint law degree (JD) and masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown (1989); and worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. Frequent TV pundit: O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Bio, article archive.

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What does ‘Freedom of Speech’ and ‘We’re All Americans’ have to do with being Abusive and Interrupting a Speaker-A Speaker who has just LOST his Daughter to A Sh*tAss Like YOU-AND trying to Intimidate hIm.YOU-A*sH*le are the One Who is Encroaching on HIS Freedom of Speech-and HIS Amendment Rights.
This Sh*t DESERVES Everything the Police Officers gave him-and Whatever the Judge will Hand Out to Him,

runfastandwin

I think neither a gun nor a taser nor pepper spray for that matter, was justified, but again I was not there nor am I aware of all the evidence. It does appear he was already subdued when they tased him. Again, we are talking about two different worlds, the world we wish we lived in and the world we actually live in. He was lucky he didn’t get hurt worse.

olandp

Even after he was tased it took three officers to subdue him. Obviously a peaceful protester being hassled by the man.

olandp

In Florida he could have been shot. He was obviously threatening those people.

usagi

So if the taser hadn’t worked, the cop should have shot him? Would that be justified? If it’s not, the use of the taser isn’t justified either. A taser is not a compliance tool, despite being constantly misused as such.

usagi

Care to read runfastandwin’s comment that this is in response to?

usagi

It’s not. If use of a firearm is not appropriate, use of a taser is not appropriate.

BillFromDover

Yeah, and now the NRA freaks want all of these ass-hats to be treated with kid gloves?

Give us a fuckin’ break, already!

BillFromDover

“I really don’t care if the guy was drunk,…”

Obviously, but who cares what you think by now?

BillFromDover

Thank Thor that NH doesn’t have a stand your ground law… yes?

How long are ya prepared to wrestle a second amendment, ignorant (probable drunk) asshole with an obvious chip on his shoulder?

BillFromDover

He deserved to be tazed in the nut-sack as NH really can survive without his kind or offspring

Can’t these mental-midget conservatives give us up here in New Hampshire at least 24 hrs before making the national news (again) demonstrating what bagger assholes reside in our otherwise placid state?

How long will it be before the rest of the country recognizes us as just another Bible-belt residence?

This shit has gotta stop, but I won’t hold my breath.

BTW, what is it with 2nd amendment nut-jobs and their arrogant certitude?

runfastandwin

Again I am not cheering on anything, I am just stating the fact that the guy was lucky he did not get much worse than what I see in the video. Beyond that a judge and jury will have to decide.

runfastandwin

By the way, his behavior at the microphone is evidence to me at least of a man causing a disturbance, making threats, and possibly assault, all 3 of which are crimes, so based on that I would say his arrest is justified.

runfastandwin

I don’t disagree, but there is the world we live in and the world we wish we lived in. He was lucky. Those cops showed some restraint considering the situation. The video shows a large and violent individual resisting arrest. There’s no video of what went on pre-resisting, other than the behavior at the microphone, so it may or may not be that the cops were arresting him for a good reason. Unless we have seen and heard evidence of what happened to cause the cops to make the arrest, neither of us can answer that question.

usagi

Use of force and use of deadly force are two extremely different things (or at least they were when I was growing up in a cop’s house). A taser is a substitute for deadly force and should only be used in that instance.
I really don’t care if the guy was drunk, stoned, off his medication, on his medication and it’s not working, just having a really bad day, or is genuinely the biggest asshole in the entire northern hemisphere. No part of that is relevant to a police officer deciding to apply a weapon that should only be used where deadly force is called for when deadly force is clearly not required.
The way in which the comments here are cheering police abuse because it’s directed at the opposing “team” is thoroughly disheartening and disgusting. This was a wrong an application of a taser as was incident the foreclosure protester outside the Department of Justice last month. Or should she be grateful that they just tased her and didn’t beat her to a pulp before they arrested her as well?

usagi

Funny, I’ve heard the same sentiment expressed about anti-war protesters and other terrorist sympathizers.

There is never any reason for a cop to “beat someone to pulp.” That is not the behavior that is expected of professionals.

I believe this is from the same rally. These gun humpers claim to love the Constitution until they realize it applies to EVERYONE…including people that don’t share their views. The assholes in this video are truly nauseating and despicable.

I’m sure he has no clue what that t shirt means or why it was made in the first place.

runfastandwin

That’s not what Jay said, the guy clearly tried to keep the police from putting the handcuffs on, and tried to twist away to avoid being arrested. In the process he struck the policeman several times. You don’t want the police to use force, don’t resist arrest. Again my guess is alcohol was a factor.

runfastandwin

Clearly, the douchebag was resisting arrest. I’d wager that alcohol was involved as well.

runfastandwin

I love Digby, but I disagree. Teh only thing these guys understand is violence. He’s lucky he didn’t get beat to a pulp by the cops as well.

usagi

So in your world touching a police officer means they can shoot you dead, and you’re okay with that? Wow. Fuck you, asshole.

Snaggletooth

The guy is obviously a sick fuck but after watching the video of him with the cops there was no need to taser him when they did. I wouldn’t describe anything I saw in the footage as assault. I’d also like to ask even if his action was illegal, what does legal and illegal have to do with right and wrong? Those words are not synonymous in our society any longer.

Jay

So assaulting police isn’t illegal? Wow.

zonmoy

you mean nearly all of them.

tenjen

It’s so ironic the gun nut is wearing one of those Homeland Security T-shirts picturing Native Americans.

Terry

The NRA brings it’s own armed guards to every event and even at it’s own press conferences all attendee’s are frisked. Sad but true. So they push for laws that allow for guns anywhere and everywhere, except their own events. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Naja pallida

Tasers and pepper spray are generally the go-to these days, in lieu of actually giving officers proper training. Cheaper and generally results in quicker compliance. If you do a few Google searches, you can come up with dozens of cases where police have used tasers or pepper spray for no reason whatsoever, because it was easier than taking the time to actually deal with a subject correctly. The makers of these products market them to law enforcement for exactly such purposes, and are always sure to avoid mentioning any of the potential detrimental effects.

http://plumstchili.blogspot.com/ Plum Dumpling

Correct. Scary.

UncleBucky

I won’t bet, cause you’re right, but I will buy the first round of bevvies!

UncleBucky

In a way, it makes Musso a “terrorist” of sorts. He is heckling/terrorizing the speaker to get him to stop speaking. Same as any other terrorist, to get people to stop doing something by a threat of MORE violence. ;o)

David

“father of a girl shot to death by her husband”
Shouldn’t that be father of a _woman_ shot to death by her husband?

America has a violence problem because apparently it’s now okay for the police to use tasers as on-the-spot, no-due-process punishment.

Tasers have been sold as a “non-lethal,” “humane” means of gaining control of a suspect who would otherwise have been shot. In any video where you see a taser being used on someone, the appropriate standard to apply is “would shooting that person be a correct response to this situation?” If the answer is no, then excess force was used.

Off all the slippery slopes we’ve been on lately, this one disturbs me the most, not least of all due to the shear number of people having a bad reaction to prescription medication, a diabetic attack, or some other medical issue who have been repeatedly shocked by police who were to damn lazy to do anything but reach for their taser instead of doing a little police work.

Yes, the jerk in the video is being an asshole. For the time being anyway, that’s not illegal. Nothing he did rose to the level of requiring a firearm to be drawn, let alone discharged.

Butch1

Or Chicago. ;-)

When we used to live in Chicago there was a joke going around where the police would shoot and then yell, “Halt!” ;-)

http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

If that had been Oakland he would have been shot first and then tasered.

Butch1

Exactly. He defused this bully’s game at each and every turn.

Butch1

It wouldn’t surprise me; any person who would get up and interrupt someone in the middle of a speech like he did was asking for it. The only problem was he got if from the police who did not play around with his games.

dcinsider

Concord has no “e” at the end.

paulabflat

and then it all went wrong.
my hat is way off to mr. cantin. level heads prevail.

paulabflat

i laughed right out loud. got the snot shocked out of him.

keirmeister

Look at Musso’s twisted smile as he is interrupting Cantin’s speech. It’s one of bullying arrogance, self-righteousness, and stupidity.

This is the type of person the Right embraces.

Musso wasn’t a “heckler.” He was trying to intimidate Cantin. That makes him an asshole, and I’m glad he got the snot shocked out of him.

http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

And probably armed. An even worse combo.

http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

I don’t doubt you’re right. No doubt at all.

http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

That’s just the thing, isn’t it? There is no respect. Just shouting down, and attempting to shut down a man speaking his opinion and expressing his grief at yet another unnecessary gun death.

No sympathy, no empathy, just knee-jerk cruelty and mocking derision. And a total asshole, to boot.

paulabflat

i hope he did a number 3. that’s number 1 and number 2 combined.

paulabflat

oh. i think musso wanted the speaker to get angry and shove or hit him. he was trying to start a fight.
50 bucks says i’m right.

http://plumstchili.blogspot.com/ Plum Dumpling

Guy is drunk. And an authoritarian. Bad combination.

Jonas Grumby

Behold the TeaBag.

Whitewitch

wow – you would think the least the heckler could do is respect a man that has lost his daughter. I would place him (the heckler) in the likes of Westboro’s nuts.

Whitewitch

Or you could put daughter in the title…you know like daughter’s dad….

Whitewitch

Agreed…but John is not her father.

alfredo_tomato

But to the father, she will be his little girls.

ArthurH

This might be called the One-Man-One-Volt Principle. The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre wants a national list of mentally ill people. But they might be shocked at all the gun “enthusiasts” who end up topping such a list.

SkippyFlipjack

What if a gun control advocate stood right next to a speaker at an NRA rally heckling them into their microphone throughout their speech? Would the crowd be as patient as this one?

Butch1

He’s a right-wing bully who is used to getting his way. If there weren’t so many witnesses around he would have taken a swing at the speaker. He was in his space and face trying to take his sunglasses off of his face without his permission. He’s a real jerk and when he put his jabbing fingers into the policeman he went over the line and deserved what he got back. He’s obviously very strong to have all of them taking him down even after being tazed. This will be an expensive lesson for him if he has to pay for it himself.

samizdat

Like I’ve said, brainwashed to within inches of their sanity.

Ichabod Cranium

John:

A small point, and not meant at all to take away from the main point of the post, but please consider whether it’d be more appropriate to refer to the deceased as a “woman” rather than as a “girl”. She was married, so I assume she was an adult. It’s a little thing, but a) it’s grating, and b) with so many children being killed, the fact that this victim was actually not a child makes the headline somewhat misleading.

TonyT

Hey Bullyman. Why are you shaking. It’s only 50,00 volts. You must not be speaking in truth. I had it to the gentleman speaking I would have been on the ground with the dude which is exactly what he wanted. Notice how when he got no reaction the bullyman walked away.

condew

What seems to be lacking among gun nuts is the moral and emotional training that goes along with martial arts. Whether you carry the ability to end a life as a skill or a tool, you really need a sense of right and wrong and a calm, sober outlook. Unfortunately, a gun is instant power without the time to develop the maturity that must to go with it.

jomicur

There is not the least shred of simple decency in these people, much less any sense of our common humanity. All that matters to them is their little metal phallic toys, period.

cole3244

whats new for the gun nuts (rw), rather then disagreeing with the opposition they become disagreeable and that is because they are afraid of the truth and facts so trying to censor them is their only agenda.